A PAEDOPHILE who tried to persuade an underage girl to bring her friend to meet him for group sex activity has been jailed.

It was the second time Stefan Antonio Slack, 27, had been convicted of sexual abuse of a child, despite the efforts of the courts and police to curb his activities, York Crown Court heard.

"He has developed an unhealthy sexual interest in minors and that goes back to when he was 18," said Recorder Dafydd Enoch QC.

He jailed Slack for three and a half years and made him subject to a sexual harm prevention order for five years, his second such order. Slack will now be on the sex offenders' register for life.

Slack, of Avenue Street, Harrogate, pleaded guilty to inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and breaching a sexual harm prevention order made in 2012.

The judge said the offence was identical to the one he was convicted of in 2012.

Michael Greenhalgh, prosecuting, said Slack had flattered and groomed a 15-year-old girl over Snapchat in late 2018.

He described what he wanted to do to her sexually and suggested they meet up so he could do it.

He added that she could bring her friend "if she's game" to the sexual activity.

On reading the message, the girl took a screenshot of it, showed it to an adult and the police were called.

Slack's earlier offence had been committed when he was 17 and the victim was 11.

For Slack, Abbi Whelan said he had been drinking very heavily when he sent the messages in 2018 and since then "he has very much turned his life around".

He had been admitted to hospital with liver failure and that and his arrest had been a "catalyst" to reform himself.

He had matured and got a job and enrolled on a college course to become a tree surgeon.

He had had to wait three and a half years between arrest to sentence for the group sex activity offence as he was only summonsed to court in 2021.